Integrated circuits, such as e.g. microprocessors, memory components, logic components or other analogue or digital circuits, are nowadays produced in series in large quantities, often in the form of a semiconductor chip in a housing. The chip, comprising for example a semiconductor substrate composed of silicon, in this case comprises the actual functional circuit which was realized by a combination of lithography and patterning methods in the chip. The housing furthermore affords possibilities for making electrical and/or optical contact with integrated circuit components, further functional elements, such as e.g. in the case of system in package, and/or a sealing of the integrated circuit components with respect to moisture or other environmental influences. Highly developed processes, such as the CMOS process, for example, generally serve as production processes for the integrated circuit.
Primarily in the case of large scale integrated digital circuits, such as microprocessors and data memories, the miniaturization of the feature sizes is the subject of intensive industrial and scientific research and development. The miniaturization of the feature sizes enables more functional units to be accommodated in the integrated circuit, which significantly increases the overall performance of the integrated circuit. Thus, by way of example, the storage capacity, that is to say the number of memory cells present, is a critical variable for a modern memory component. Furthermore, the current consumption and speed also play a significant part in the miniaturization of the feature sizes.
Electronic components and circuits generally have a maximum permissible operating voltage or signal voltage. If this maximum voltage is exceeded, for example as a result of an electrostatic discharge, even just momentarily, parts of the circuit or even the entire circuit itself can be destroyed. In this context reference is also made to ESD protection measures (electrostatic discharge) for protecting integrated circuits against such discharges. In addition to the customary measures during production, sales distribution, and during processing of the integrated circuits, direct ESD protection measures are also employed in the integrated. These also include for example the short-circuiting with associated connections of the integrated circuit by housing parts, for example conductor tracks of a carrier substrate. Since, with increasing integration and miniaturization of the feature sizes, there is also an increase in the effective resistances of the conductor tracks on the integrated circuit, a discharge current can lead to correspondingly higher internal voltages. A corresponding short circuit, for example of two supply voltage lines that are to be kept at the same target potential, can avoid such high internal voltage.
The short-circuiting of connections of an integrated circuit can therefore be effected, as already known, by means of additional conductor tracks in the carrier substrate. However, this requires at least two mutually independent wiring levels in the carrier substrate. This necessity results from the fact that the short circuit must be effected without any crossover with other signal lines of a first wiring level by a conductor track of a second wiring level. However, providing a plurality of wiring levels in a carrier substrate leads to more complicated production of the integrated circuit. The high costs associated with the complicated production cannot be tolerated, however in certain applications, such as, for example, a so-called commodity memory component with a standardized FBGA BOC solder ball connection. Commodity memory components are generally employed as a mass-produced product in consumer goods.